...if you want it … [Read more...]

"To note that Lennon and the band he founded have enduring capacities to ignite the public imagination is to commit an obviousness that is aptly painful..." David Hajdu in the New Republic. … [Read more...]

Sarah Darling (Tina Fey remix) Murder Incorporated (all hail: subprime credit crisis) Born in the USA (update the quagmire) 'Dad's Gonna Kill Me (Richard Thompson cover) Detroit medley (for "Devil With the Blue Dress") Farmer John (Premiers, Neil Young cover) Double Shot of My Baby's Love (Swingin' … [Read more...]

Dear Friends, copy, paste, resend and GET OUT THE VOTE: This is Your Nation on White Privilege By Tim Wise / September 13, 2008 For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help. White … [Read more...]

To William F. Buckley, Jr. October 18, 1965 Dear Bill-elect, What the hell does emunctory mean? You have here gone too far, sir, even for Buckley. I even heard one Roman turn over distinctly in his grave as the word went by and whisper to his neighbor, "Does that 'emunctory' come from the Greek?" … [Read more...]

"If I were Francis Bacon and dead, I'd find some way to come back just to paint Tilda..." David Thomson in the Guardian. … [Read more...]

TOP TEN QUESTIONS FOR MCCAIN'S CAMPAIGN (Letterman, via Kurtzman) 10. "I just contributed to your campaign - how do I get a refund?" 9. "It's Sarah Palin -- does this mean I'm pars'dent?" 8. "Can't you solve this by selling some of your houses?" 7. "This is Clay Aiken. Is McCain single?" 6. "Do you … [Read more...]

How about Three Strikes You're Out! Cue Paul Krugman on PBS Newshour last night. Or hey, how about: "They didn't NEED to strike our Twin Towers -- they were already ROTTING FROM WITHIN!" Too bad about that collateral damage, huh? VOTE NO BAILOUT … [Read more...]

Best thing yet on Dark Knight, just let me add one thing: a posthumous performance like Ledger's, which already upstages Jack Nicholson, feels beyond tragic: Yet I suspect it is still the news. While both candidates run on the premise that Washington Is Broken, I'm disinclined to disagree, only to … [Read more...]

Chicago Reader has upgraded its archives, and voila. … [Read more...]

This La Boheme ditty cracks me up, and the lyric translates as "Woe is not for me. Everyday is a joy. I explore, where the air is clear." Diane Lane and Richard "Groundhog" Gere should get their own cable channel.  … [Read more...]

Brown University: three lectures SGT PEPPER (9/16, 4pm, see poster below) FEVER: HOW ROCK TRANSFORMED GENDER (10/30) MUSIC CRITICISM (12/2) Host: Professor Rose Rosengard Subotnik (401) 863-3234 Society for Music Theory November 7 & 8, 2008, Nashville, TN Plenary Session: The Pop Music Catalog Host: … [Read more...]

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This week's Republican convention will be full of overt and subliminal references to all of last week's Democratic catchphrases, and the pundits will congratulate themselves on how many they can point out. Expect Rove to write glib rejoinders to Clinton's "example of our power..." line, and watch … [Read more...]

Five Essential Music Ebooks from Hypebot, via Music Press Report and don't forget New Music Strategies manifesto: 'Convergence' is an example of a way of discussing new online technologies by reducing them to a single idea without understanding them in any depth at all. In fact, convergence is the … [Read more...]